----* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Murdoc truly the completely reprehensible bastard that he claims to be, or is he a sad little man who was never given a chance at a normal life and is thus incapable of understanding others as a result. Does he actually enjoy being on ''Music/PlasticBeach'' due to it being his "kingdom", or does he secretly miss having anyone to talk to? Did he kidnap 2D out of necessity of producing the album, or did he do it because he was the one person who didn't completely hate him and was thus the only person he could call a friend? Phase 3 manages to provide support for all sides of the argument.** Is 2D an IdiotSavant, or an intelligent young man whose mind was destroyed by severe head trauma and constant pain killer usage?** Just how bad of a person is Paula Cracker? Was 2D really in love with her?* AscendedFanon: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Maņana_(song) Wikipedia's article]] on the song ''El Maņana'' noted that the helicopters in the video didn't match the ones from ''Feel Good Inc.'', and proposed an explanation for it. This article was quoted in ''Rise of the Ogre'', with Murdoc replying, "Er... yeah. That sounds about right."* BrokenBase: The last single from ''Plastic Beach'', ''Doncamatic'', is shaping up to be this. Half the Website/YouTube comments are lauding it as a spiritual successor to ''DARE'', and the other half are criticizing it for its lack of Creator/DamonAlbarn and similarity to current pop. Its release as a single also provoked anger, as it was chosen over [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favorite "Empire Ants"]]. Then ''Doncamatic'' had a video made for it, which was considerably less epic and plot-advancing than the canceled ''Rhinestone Eyes'' video.** How central to the band the characters are is also a hot topic of debate, particularly after Phase 3, with many claiming the increased focus on the cartoons early on in the Phase is ultimately led to its unceremonious and abrupt end.* CargoShip: The ''Feel Good Inc.'' commentary makes reference to Murdoc's "bass-shagging action".* CrazyAwesome: Their [[BlandNameProduct Geep]] has a built-in missile system, which they used to attack a giant elk. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IUjtHf76wM No, seriously.]]* CreepyAwesome: Murdoc.* DieForOurShip: Paula, 2D's ex-girlfriend, is absolutely loathed by the fandom -- though this may be subjective since she's not all that pleasant a person, and isn't supposed to be.* EarWorm: ''Stylo'', ''DARE'', ''On Melancholy Hill'', ''Feel Good Inc.'', ''Clint Eastwood'', ''Superfast Jellyfish'', ''Doncamatic''... and that's not ''close'' to all of them. While their songs in general are extremely catchy, special mention goes to "Rockit", a song where half the lyrics are blahs.* EpicRiff: "Every Planet We Reach is Dead," the bass riff in ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IocxXl-0R90&t=13 Feel Good Inc.]],'' ''Clint Eastwood'', and the violin riff that comes in halfway through the song in "Sound Check (Gravity)."* EnsembleDarkHorse: Song variety -- ''Rhinestone Eyes'' and ''Empire Ants'' are almost universally beloved among fans, and neither were ever official released as singles, though ''Rhinestone Eyes'' came close.** Many of the tracks off of the SelfTitledAlbum -- most notably "Sound Check (Gravity)," "Punk," "Slow Country," and "5/4" -- are quite popular among fans, though rarely played live.** Paula Cracker received quite a bit of attention from fans -- though not necessarily the good kind - despite only being mentioned in ''Rise of the Ogre'' and a few fleeting moments in interviews.* FaceOfTheBand: 2D and Noodle in the videos, Murdoc in interviews. 2D gets thee lion's share of the screen time in most videos barring a few which star Noodle. Stops being the case in Phase 3, where the focus is on Murdoc while he hangs in the background, but back in full force by "[=DoYaThing=]".* FanonDiscontinuity: "The Fall" is not considered an official part of the Gorillaz "canon," as it was largely just Damien Albarn [[{{Pun}} noodling]] around with various music apps on his iPad with no specific attention paid to the band's mythology.* FanPreferredCouple: It's a tie between [[HoYay 2D x Murdoc]] and [[LikeBrotherAndSister 2D x Noodle]] -- Murdoc x Noodle is also popular, but not to the extent of the other two. In the earlier years of Gorillaz, 2D x Noodle was more popular, but 2D x Murdoc has gotten more popular these days, mainly due to their large number of interactions.* FoeYay: Murdoc with both of the other male band members, particularly 2D. Murdoc has practically destroyed 2D's life, but the latter views him as a role model and looks up to him, as to an older brother, in spite of the fact that Murdoc abuses him physically and mentally. 2D has even declared at one point he loves Murdoc. Still, in Phase 3, 2D gets smarter and realizes he was actually mistaken about him.* HellIsThatNoise: At the 1:50 mark in ''The Speak It Mountains'', Damon has inserted what sounds like digitally-altered ''screams of pain''. LastNoteNightmare indeed. It's actually just [[http://i.imgur.com/Fizza.png a picture of a mountain that you can find by putting the song through a stereograph]].* HoYay: [[HoYay/{{Gorillaz}} Has its own page]].* IronWoobie: Russel.* JerkassWoobie: Pre-adolescent Murdoc. He grew out of woobiehood pretty quickly, and by all accounts he was a horrible little boy, but... [[FreudianExcuse poor kid]]. He gets a little bit of it back in the Pirate Radio broadcasts, in which a re-occurring theme is how depressingly lonely he is. Every time it hits him he [[DrowningMySorrows chugs more rum to put it out of his mind]], but since it comes up at least three or four times per broadcast it's clearly not helping much anymore.* MagnificentBastard: Oh Murdoc, why must we hate to love you?* MemeticMutation** "Lifebewtz", as said by a steward who offers to escort the real Noodle in ''On Melancholy Hill'', has reached this status.** It's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up...*** IT'S DARE! OOOH!** [[MadnessMantra Overload, overload, overload, comin' up to the overload, overload, overload, comin' up to the--]]** From the 12 minute version of "[=DoYaThing=]", Andre's repeated shouts of "I'M THE SHIT!"* MarySue: Some people have accused Noodle of being this, what with being widely talented with musical instruments, having a pretty good singing voice, being quite attractive, cheerful and optimistic even after finding out about her unpleasant past, possibly the most intelligent and strongest (both physically and mentally) out of the band despite being the youngest, being treated very well in the band in comparison to the way the other members regard each other and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking having]] [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair purple hair]]. However, the whole story doesn't evolve around her, she isn't what made the band be successful and her character is not based around the concept of WishFulfillment. She ''might'' have certain traits of a MarySue, but she lives in an environment where most of those traits are not considered of importance, which in turn makes her quite tolerable, even likeable.* {{Moe}}: Noodle, and arguably 2D.* MorePopularSpinoff** In America, where the band's first two albums have outsold Music/{{Blur}}'s ''entire discography.''** They're arguably this for Music/{{Deltron3030}} as well. All three members of Deltron appeared on the first album and "Time Keeps on Slipping" is usually referred to as a "proto-Gorillaz" song.* NauseaFuel** The first video of the ''Murdoc's Dressing Room'' three-parter shows you more of Murdoc than you ever wanted to see, as does the band's segment on MTV Cribs. Not to mention ''Rock the House'', ''Feel Good Inc.'', and ''The Eel'' G-bite.* NightmareFuel: [[NightmareFuel/{{Gorillaz}} Has its own page]].* ReplacementScrappy: EMI lost a lot of the fans' esteem when the originally-intended, storyboarded and plot-advancing music video for ''Rhinestone Eyes'' was cancelled in favor of ''Doncamatic''.* SignatureSong: "Clint Eastwood", "Feel Good Inc.", or "DARE".* SpotlightStealingSquad: Phase 3 could be called "The Murdoc show featuring 2D" considering how basically all material from it is simply the two bickering while Murdoc battles demons. Russel and Noodle don't get a single line of dialogue throughout the entire phase.* {{Squick}}** In Murdoc's lair in the ''Plastic Beach'' game there are several boxes labeled "Edible panties", "Nipple tassels"... FetishFuel, maybe, if not for the ridiculous amount of flies hovering around them...** In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HalCyn7z74 "02 Priority Walk"]] video, take note of Cyborg Noodle's incredibly fanservice-y outfit. She's supposed to be a replica of a ''14-year old girl''. Then again, she was made by ''[[DepravedBisexual Murdoc]]''.** Noodle is often shipped with either 2D or Murdoc -- even when she was ''eight'' years old. Not squicky by Phase 3 as she is now about 22 years old.* TaintedByThePreview: The demo of ''Stylo'' was not well-received and people assume it is what the finished version sounds like -- the finished version actually sounds much better.* TearJerker: They now have [[TearJerker/{{Gorillaz}} their own tearjerker page]].* UglyCute: Murdoc and 2D. The manatee from the ''On Melancholy Hill'' video.* UncannyValley** Well, just look at the videos. [[http://beatcrave.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gorillaz_group.jpg Or, for that matter, the stills]]. 2D is, in some of the pics, frankly terrifying.** The cover-art for ''The Fall'' can be considered rather creepy. It features 2D sitting alone in a dark room, staring into the camera with huge white eyes and an emotionless look on his face. Looking at it too long can make you uneasy because of this.** The video for ''Stylo'' has them in a live-action setting in a new CG-animated style. The first time you see them can be straight creepy.** Say hello to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81lAa3kqgCc Cyborg Noodle]].* ViewerGenderConfusion** About a quarter of the comments on some Website/YouTube copies of the ''DARE'' video are people asking if Noodle is a boy or a girl, and another quarter are people telling the aforementioned that she's female, with varying levels of politeness. She was even more ambiguous in Phase 1, before she reached puberty. In Phase 3, she wears a much more feminine ensemble -- a dress, stockings and lipstick -- and Cyborg Noodle wears belly shirts and hot pants, so presumably that'll stop now.** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwKcXfUmLkk This]] is the newest Gorillaz song, ''Doncamatic''. Listen to it without looking at the comments. Good? Now read the note. [[note]]The singer? It's a ''guy.''[[/note]]* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: AnimationAgeGhetto seems to have worked on them some, as parents have mistakenly brought their kids to live concerts. It's an animated band with and ridiculously catchy music... that features a character like [[AntiRoleModel Murdoc Niccals]]. Many of their songs and videos have prominent adult imagery: the ''Stylo'' video features a shooting scene and the Boogieman, ''On Melancholy Hill'' has a discretion gore shot and Cyborg Noodle throwing up an ''octopus'', ''Feel Good Inc.'' has Murdoc's "bass-shagging action" and the tower gives off a general feel of a nightclub or a brothel. Most of the lyrics are highly ambiguous, and it's not rare to see Murdoc with emptied tequila bottles, 2D switchblade knives and cigarettes, and dead animals. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lWKt4vxOdg One early, unreleased music video]] for the song ''5/4'' would have started off with a view of a girl masturbating, and the video treats the viewer to a naked Murdoc with a very much visible penis. Their first self-titled album even has a [[ContentWarning Parental Advisory sticker]] on it.* TheWoobie** You have to feel bad for 2D. First off, he got put in a coma and got an eye fractured after Murdoc hit him with a car, and had to be taken care of by Murdoc whilst in the coma, not to mention the rumors of what happened during that time. Then Murdoc managed to crash the car trying to 360 to impress a girl and 2D was thrown through the windshield. This woke him from the coma and ''shattered his other eye''. Murdoc abused him all the time, then drugged and kidnapped him for ''Music/PlasticBeach''. During the iTunes sessions, Murdoc bragged about nailing his girlfriend and proceeded to chloroform 2D when he attacked. Finally, in the ''[=DoYaThing=]'' video, there is a final twisting of the knife -- 2D reads a newspaper with a cartoon called The Gorillaz in which Murdoc gives him a hug and says "It's good to have friends." 2D smiles at this, but then the real Murdoc comes downstairs and brutally smacks him across the head with a shoe. The heartbroken look on his face is ''awful''.** The whole band, really. Russel's friends were killed and then he got possessed and expelled from school for mauling some other students, Murdoc whilst being a complete dick did have an admittedly abusive childhood, and Noodle's life has been crap since Phase 2 although she's now back with her bandmates as of ''[=DoYaThing=]''.* YokoOhNo: Paula Cracker.----